Chapter 60 151 Di Renjie is full of peaches and plums

Wu Zetian ruthlessly suppressed those who opposed her power; but she also attached great importance to the appointment of talents.She often sends people to various places to find talents.As long as someone is found to be talented, regardless of family background and qualifications, he will be promoted and appointed boldly.Therefore, a group of talented ministers emerged under her hands.The most famous of them is Prime Minister Di Renjie. When Di Renjie was the governor of Yuzhou, he handled affairs fairly and enforced the law strictly, which was praised by the local people.Wu Zetian heard that he was talented, so he was transferred to the capital as a prime minister.

One day, Wu Zetian summoned him and told him: "I heard that when you were in Yuzhou, you had a good reputation, but there were also people who exposed your faults in front of me. Do you want to know who they are?" Di Renjie said: "Other people say that I am not good. If it is indeed my fault, I should correct it. If Your Majesty finds out that it is not my fault, this is my luck. As for who is saying my fault behind my back, I don't want to know. " After hearing this, Wu Zetian felt that Di Renjie was capable, and appreciated him even more. When Lai Junchen gained power, he falsely accused Di Renjie of treason and sent Di Renjie to prison.Lai Junchen forced him to confess, and even tricked him by saying, "As long as you confess, you will be spared the death penalty."

Di Renjie said frankly: "Now that the Queen Mother establishes the Zhou Dynasty, everything starts again. An ex-official of the Tang Dynasty like me deserves to be killed.I admit it. " Another official secretly told Di Renjie, "If you confess to someone else, you can still be lenient." Di Renjie got angry now, and said: "There is heaven above, and there is earth below. If Di Renjie is asked to do such a thing, I can't do it!" Gotta bleed.The official became frightened and quickly persuaded him to stop. Lai Junchen decided Di Renjie's case indiscriminately based on the materials he had extracted, so his precautions were not so strict.Taking advantage of the guard's unpreparedness, Di Renjie secretly tore up the quilt, wrote a letter of complaint in shredded silk, and sewed it into the cotton-padded jacket.

At that time, it was the beginning of spring.Di Renjie said to the prison officer: "The weather is getting warmer, and I don't need this cotton coat. Please tell my family to take it back." The prison officer didn't doubt it, so he asked the Di family who came to visit the prison to take the cotton-padded clothes home.Di Renjie's son opened the cotton-padded clothes and found the petition written by his father, so he entrusted someone to send it to Wu Zetian. After reading Di Renjie's complaint, Wu Zetian ordered Di Renjie to be released from prison.Wu Zetian summoned Di Renjie and said, "Since you complained about being wronged, why did you confess?"

Di Renjie said, "If I didn't recruit, I would have been tortured to death by them." Wu Zetian exempted Di Renjie from the death penalty, but still removed him from the position of prime minister and demoted him to a county magistrate in another place.It was not until Lai Junchen was killed that he was transferred back to be prime minister. Before Di Renjie became prime minister, there was a general Lou Shide who tried his best to recommend him in front of Wu Zetian; but Di Renjie didn't know about this. Once, Wu Zetian deliberately asked Di Renjie, "What do you think of Lou Shide?"

Di Renjie said: "Lou Shide is a general, guarding the border carefully, not bad. As for what talent he has, I don't know." Wu Zetian said: "Do you think Lou Shide can discover talents?" Di Renjie said: "I have worked with him, but I have never heard of him being able to discover talents." Wu Zetian smiled and said, "I was able to find you because Lou Shide recommended you." Di Renjie was very moved when he heard this, and felt that Lou Shide was kind and kind, and he was not as good as him.Later, Di Renjie also worked hard to find talents and recommended them to Wu Zetian at any time.

One day, Wu Zetian asked Di Renjie: "I want to find a talent, who do you think can do it?" Di Renjie said: "I don't know what kind of talents His Majesty wants?" Wu Zetian said: "I want to find someone who can be a prime minister." Di Renjie knew for a long time that there was an official in Jingzhou named Zhang Jianzhi. Although he was a little older, he was capable of handling affairs and was a candidate for prime minister, so he recommended it to Wu Zetian.After listening to Di Renjie's recommendation, Wu Zetian promoted Zhang Jianzhi to be the Sima of Luozhou (Luoyang, where the government is located).

A few days later, Di Renjie went to court, and Wu Zetian mentioned to him about recommending talents.Di Renjie said: "The last time I recommended Zhang Jianzhi, His Majesty hasn't used it yet!" Wu Zetian said: "Didn't I already appoint him?" Di Renjie said: "What I recommend to His Majesty is a candidate for the prime minister, not for him to be Sima." Only then did Wu Zetian promote Zhang Jianzhi to be a minister, and later appointed him as a prime minister. Like Zhang Jianzhi, Di Renjie recommended dozens of people, all of whom later became famous ministers at the time.These ministers all admire Di Renjie very much and regard Di Renjie as their senior.Someone said to Di Renjie: "All the peaches and plums in the world are under Di Gong's sect."

Di Renjie said humbly: "What is this? The recommendation is for the country, not for my own personal gain!" Di Renjie lived until he was ninety-three years old.Wu Zetian respected Di Renjie very much and called him "the old man of the country".He asked to sue him many times, but Wu Zetian always refused.After he died, Wu Zetian often sighed and said: "Why did God take away my old man so early!"